Welcome to the Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy

Agenda

Colloquium

The born investigator of the heavens

Piet van der Kruit, Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Groningen

Wednesday,1 April
11:30
Location: C4.174

I just published a comprehensive biography of Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn (1851-1922) with Springer. in the colloquium I will trace Kapteyn's life from his birth in Barneveld through his mathematics studies in Utrecht, his position as `observator' at Leiden Observatory, followed by his appointment in 1878 in Groningen.

The outer atmosphere of the Sun is a magnetically-dominated environment. The magnetic field determines the transport, storage and dissipation of energy, in fairly steady ways (coronal heating, solar wind acceleration) but also in abrupt and impulsive events called solar flares.

"Space Weather" describes the impact that the Sun has on its environment through the magnetically powered flares, mass ejections and wind that it produces. On more active stars, we might expect even more dramatic space weather and a greater impact on any orbiting planets.